Dolce Triade – A Morning in Norkia
20th September, 2007 by Chewbacca
Last Exile is an anime series from 2003 that was set in a steampunk, Victorian-inspired universe, where pilots fly through the air in “vanships” and two countries are engaged in a long war, who fight in the clouds. Today’s track sets the mood for the two main characters – a pilot and a navigator and their small airship in a morning in their gentle home town of Norkia. Dolce Triade, the composer for the series soundtrack brings a folk-y, gentle and relaxing piece with a variety of instruments – flutes, chimes, lots of percussion and good composing to beat. Enjoy today’s “A Morning in Norkia”: (don’t misread as Nokia as I always do!)
Grandaddy, until last year, were an indie rock band from California who were known for their more experimental electronic sound in their music. Eventually in early 2006, they decided to split up the band – partly due to sticking to their plan to not release on major labels or play at typical Ticketmaster gigs. Still, since 1992, they’ve put out a bunch of great songs – with incredibly strange topics – from robots to wildlife, all featuring their typical indie/folky/rocky stylings. Today’s particular track was taken from their 2005 EP, “Excerpts from the Diary of Todd Zilla”, and maybe the album title might help you set the mood. Enjoy “Pull the Curtains”:
When I first heard Kristofer’s music, I almost thought I was listening to 
White Willow is a famous Norwegian band trained in the mystic arts of… art rock! Which can basically be described as a mix of everything in a big pot. Their latest album released last summer, “Signal To Noise”, features today’s track – the aforementioned melting pot of folk, progressive rock and the beautiful voice of their new vocalist, Trude Eidtang. Aptly titled, “Joyride” is one of the most upbeat tracks of the album, and you definitely need to hear it:
Sam Brookes, a singer/songwriter from Bath, presents a nice and easy going compound of folk and blues in creating his songs. Armed only with his guitar, occasionally a harmonica and his grand voice, he apparently gives quite a performance. My girlfriend who 
Solo artist, Backseat Goodbye (who’s really known as Chad Sugg) is a complete one-man operation: he writes his own songs, performs all the instruments, and as an unsigned artist, pays for all the cost in producing his music. A nice gentle mix of acoustic indie and folk and there you have his music! “Sorry to Interrupt” taken from his 2005 release “White EP” is a testament to the music you can expect – nice and easygoing songs to listen and chill to. Over 30 of his songs are available on his Pure Volume page, with most of them freely available to download. His latest self-released album, “Good Morning, Sunshine” – released April this year – features over 20 tracks is 
And now it’s time for a progressive rock band from Wales! The name: Karnataka; the music: epic! The vocals of Rachel Jones are simply something else – haunting and mesmerising, and put atop of guitars and keyboards by Ian Jones and Johnathan Edwards builds amazingly deep and exciting music. Unfortunately, the band parted ways in 2004 citing “personal reasons” (that’s always the way!) but recently Ian has resurrected the band with a new lineup. The new band are currently touring, and maybe we’ll see an album soon? Here’s “Time Stands Still” from their last album “Delicate Flame of Desire”:
Ayaka Hirahara took centre stage in 2004 when she released “Jupiter”, a song with melody based on Gustav Holst’s The Planet Suite – and unsurprisingly, the Jupiter section in particular! It became one of the most top selling singles of 2004, and now she is now a famous Japanese pop singer with five albums under her belt, all of which have reached the top 10. Last year she performed the ending song to the game “ÅŒkami” which follows a god wolf and retells many of Japanese myths and legends. “Reset” plays once you finally complete the end boss, a trial I can proudly say I have completed! The soundtrack to the game is a massive beast – over 200 songs in five and a half hours over 5 discs – it’s quite detailed!
Frameshift was the brainchild of Henning Pauly, and this album was written especially in mind for the vocals of James LaBrie, famous for lead vocalist of Dream Theatre. “Unweaving The Rainbow” was the group’s first project, and was idealised as modernising progressive rock – and that’s certainly what they’ve done. The concept is based on the evolutionary research of Richard Dawkins (and as such, stay away Creationists!) although there is no strict story behind the scenes. “Your Eyes” is a nice track really making use of LaBrie’s famous vocals.
Let’s take it down a notch today – Magnet, otherwise known as Even Johansen from Norway is a singer-songwriter who produces some lovely melancholic songs. Now this song might not technically be his, but Magnet’s rendition of Bob Dylan’s Lay Lady Lay, featuring vocals from Gemma Hayes, is every bit as wonderful as it is calming. Perfect for a lazy bank holiday weekend, oui? You can have your cake and eat it too.
(bargain price!)